La Palina Classic Toro

La Palina has a unique history that started in the late 1880s when Sam Paley emigrated from the Ukraine to Chicago. He soon started working as a lector at a cigar factory where he read novels, magazines and newspapers to the cigar rollers in the gallery. Over time he started gaining interest in the tobacco industry and started using personal time to gain knowledge on everything cigars. Shortly after, he was promoted to roller, then to blender. In 1896 Mr. Paley opened Congress Cigar Company, his first cigar shop, with an adjacent factory whose first product was named La Palina in honor of his wife Goldie Drell Paley. In 1910, the family and Congress Cigar Company moved to Philadelphia with William, Sam’s son, joining as Vice President of Advertising. After several years of success, the Congress Cigar Company was ultimately liquidated in 1926 when Sam retired. Fast forward several decades later and grandson Bill Paley went back to his roots and resurrected the La Palina brand and released their first cigar in 2010.

Hailing from Honduras, the La Palina Classic is sure to win a permanent place in your humidor. This medium bodied cigar features a handsome milk chocolate Brazilian Habano wrapper that secures an Ecuadorian binder and a bevy of long-fillers from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. Complex and balanced down to the nub, this stogie has notes of spice, earth, and caramel. Not only did our panel love this cigar and recommend pairing it with a spiced rum, the Classic also received a well-deserved a 93-points from Cigar Aficionado.

Though tobacco is indigenous to Hispaniola, the tobacco industry in the Dominican Republic existed in the shadow of Cuba’s dominance through the 1960s. When the exodus of Cuban cigar makers began in the wake of the revolution, many decided the Dominican Republic would be ideal for the resumption of their livelihoods. Unrest in Nicaragua in the 1980s fueled the Dominican cigar industry further. The country now makes more than half of the premium cigars imported into the U.S.

The Cibao Valley and the nearby city of Santiago are the center of cigar production in the Dominican Republic. Three main varieties are grown here: the mild and native Olor Dominicano; the intense Piloto Cubano, brought from the Vuelta Abajo of Cuba; and San Vicente, a milder and more acidic Piloto hybrid. Dominican puros were once unheard of as it was widely thought impossible to grow quality wrapper leaf on the island, but new growing techniques are now allowing some exceptional puros to be produced.